Webcams are currently being used for sharing views of interest by many people using the Internet. Such views may be in the form of pictures or video and accessible via web pages, email, or other techniques. More generally, a Webcam is a video camera, sometimes referred to as a “cam” (e.g., a homecam, a securitycam, etc.) usually attached directly to a computer, whose current or latest image is accessible from a Web site. A live cam is one that is continually providing new images that are transmitted in rapid succession or, in some cases, in streaming video. Sites with live cams sometimes embed control code in Web pages.
While the first cams were positioned mainly on mundane items like fish tanks and coffee machines, more beneficial commercial uses followed. For example, Webcams now promote travel destinations, provide traffic information, and allow for remote visualization of any ongoing event of interest. In the field of security, so called “securitycams” allow for monitoring environments such as homes, streets, yards, workplaces, ATMs, etc. Further, specialized services to facilitate cam use have been developed. For example, SensorMap™ services (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.) allow users to post live feeds from their webcams to the Internet for public viewing.
Concomitant with increased use of cams are privacy concerns. For example, a Webcam installed by a user may capture portions in a field of view which the user does not have authority to share with others, or a field of view may have portions which the user does not wish to share.
Various existing techniques for privacy control of data over the Internet rely on encryption and authentication. Encryption prevents unintended viewers from viewing the data during transmission over the Internet or from a storage medium. Authentication provides access to a trusted set of users with methods, such as, requiring a password or using a central service to create a trusted user list, etc. Such existing techniques have some shortcomings. For example, they do not allow a user to provide access to a portion or portions of Webcam data which the user decides to be non-privacy sensitive. As described herein, various exemplary techniques allow a user to apply security controls to a portion or portions of Webcam data.